A newly discovered asteroid designated 2018 DV1 will flyby Earth at a very close distance of 0.29 LD or 0.00075 AU (~112 198 km / 69 716 miles) on March 2, 2018. This will be the 18th known and 6th closest asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year.

Asteroid 2018 DV1 belongs to the Aten group of asteroids and was first observed at Mt. Lemmon Survey on February 26, 4 days before its closest approach.

It has an estimated diameter between 5.6 and 12 m (18.4 – 39.4 feet) and will flyby Earth at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 6.58 km/s at 05:28 UTC (± 00:29 minutes) on March 2.

Featured image: The green line indicates the object’s apparent motion relative to the Earth, and the bright green marks are the object’s location at approximately one-hour intervals. The Moon’s orbit is grey. The blue arrow points in the direction of Earth’s motion and the yellow arrow points toward the Sun. Credit: Minor Planet Center.